And based on Senate Democrats' press releases of late, obstructionism for the mere sake of obstructionism is the main goal driving their agenda.
|
|
Democrats dismiss the "checks and balances" argument as mere obstructionism.
|
|
This sort of obstructionism isn't just a nuisance, it's undemocratic.
|
|
They have encouraged the forces of anti-intellectualism, obstructionism and populism.
|
|
Their efforts to fill those seats have been stymied by unprecedented obstructionism.
|
|
Officially closes PLO/ Palestinian Mission office in Washington, cites obstructionism of negotiations.
|
|
There was a new era of obstructionism ushered in by Mitch McConnell.
|
|
Mr. Obama accepts only so much responsibility for that, faulting Republican obstructionism.
|
|
But the Democrats' judicial nominee obstructionism is blocking purely for political revenge.
|
|
Some of this comes down to Democratic obstructionism, which seems to have hit harder and faster than Tea Party obstructionism hit the Democrats in 2009 (the Democrats had a larger Senate majority back then than the GOP does now).
|
|
Decades of Palestinian corruption, mismanagement, and obstructionism have bred frustration and donor fatigue.
|
|
Gearing workers up for this inevitability is a better labor strategy than obstructionism.
|
|
Ironically, Merkel's obstructionism may have ended up making the timing worse for her.
|
|
Derichsweiler retired in 2015 after almost 40 years in government, frustrated with Pruitt's obstructionism.
|
|
Even in their own words, Senate Democrats' obstructionism on Judge Gorsuch's nomination was dangerous.
|
|
Obstructionism led the GOP back to power; Why shouldn't Democrats pursue a similar strategy?
|
|
When did the checks and balances in the Constitution become — dirty word alert — "obstructionism"?
|
|
This GOP obstructionism is unconstitutional and goes against the interests of the Latino community.
|
|
Then pivot back to the conservative base by blaming the left for its obstructionism.
|
|
The Illinois congressman was known for his affinity for consensus-building, rather than obstructionism.
|
|
It was as if Mr. McConnell's obstructionism in the Obama years had never happened.
|
|
He never really confronted Mitch McConnell's obstructionism directly, and the whole country lost out.
|
|
Democrats are eager to argue the irony of any complaints about partisanship and obstructionism.
|
|
"Essentially, they're writing their own impeachment articles with all of their obstructionism," he added.
|
|
Obstructionism also expresses the right's ideology about the role of government in our lives.
|
|
Petty obstructionism never polls well, and it fares even worse at the ballot box.
|
|
If their obstructionism goes unchecked, it will continue harming American citizens in very tangible ways.
|
|
Likely would have been built by now were it not for the Obama Administration's obstructionism.
|
|
Trump routinely lambasts Democrats at post-election rallies and on Twitter for their alleged obstructionism.
|
|
"I'd say my voice is being ignored right now because of their obstructionism," Clinton said.
|
|
After all the Republican obstructionism that they've put up with, they ache for such liberation.
|
|
"The people of Libya deserve better than this sort of ham-fisted obstructionism," he said.
|
|
Very publicly, with the Supreme Court obstructionism, exploding that norm in a way that worked.
|
|
But in this period of slim majorities and rampant obstructionism, past trends may not hold.
|
|
This week, Director of Legislative Affairs Mark Short laid out the obstructionism in stark terms.
|
|
They're practicing pure obstructionism, and they're comfortable with any of the follow three possible results.
|
|
At the London summit the allies may find a way to finesse Mr Erdogan's obstructionism.
|
|
He coined a term for what he viewed as obstructionism: prawny imposybilizm, or legal impossibilism.
|
|
For his entire term in office, Obama has faced a stark and unprecedented degree of obstructionism.
|
|
It is part of a pattern that United Nations officials have long described as government obstructionism.
|
|
If the price of obstructionism is too high, the party tempted toward it will step back.
|
|
It will be difficult for opposition to his nomination to seem anything other than political obstructionism.
|
|
In practice, especially given the scorched-earth obstructionism of the G.O.P., that's not going to happen.
|
|
But some Democrats don't think such obstructionism is good politics or ultimately good for the country.
|
|
But together with Republican obstructionism, they helped postpone a return to full employment for many years.
|
|
We're going to make everything run as smoothly as possible for Americans despite the Democrats' obstructionism.
|
|
Any appeal to "the will of the people" to justify obstructionism therefore falls on deaf ears.
|
|
Obstructionism is more than a tactic the right wing uses when it doesn't get its way.
|
|
The visual of White House lawyers objecting repeatedly would have created powerful images of obstructionism in action.
|
|
But in light of Mr. Trump's open policy of obstructionism, Democrats are right to seek extra leverage.
|
|
Since the Republican strategy of pure obstructionism and negation worked, why shouldn't Democrats use the same strategy?
|
|
Manchin is holding out his support for Judge Kavanaugh in order to assist liberal Chuck Schumer's obstructionism.
|
|
But what can a translator do when the timbre of the original is obstructionism, incomprehensibility, and repetitiveness?
|
|
If you are dissatisfied with the status quo, maybe it is due to years of congressional obstructionism.
|
|
Senator Schumer and his cohort are trying to counter Citizens United through some regular old Senate obstructionism.
|
|
They brought it on themselves, with eight years of pure obstructionism and pandering to the Tea Party.
|
|
The highlight of McConnell's history of obstructionism was the theft of a Supreme Court seat from Obama.
|
|
However, due to the Democratic obstructionism, it was not until 1920 that woman was granted universal suffrage.
|
|
Border communities and Dreamers are both victims of thoughtless obstructionism at the hands of the Trump administration.
|
|
As long as Republicans keep talking about permanent obstructionism, Democrats should not hesitate to use that option.
|
|
One result of this unprecedented act of obstructionism is that the federal government is not functioning properly.
|
|
" GOP aides said there was also growing pressure from their base to stand up to Democratic "obstructionism.
|
|
The level of obstructionism has risen gradually because each party had a lingering sense of obligation to cooperate.
|
|
Fujimori temporarily shut down congress in 1992, arguing that it was the only way to counter the obstructionism.
|
|
Another four or eight years of obstructionism is likely to be lethal, especially considering the nation's demographic tends.
|
|
Flores acknowledged that the revolution is going to take time and that obstructionism in Congress won't change overnight.
|
|
Furthermore, part of the rise in premiums is a result of Republican obstructionism to policies like risk corridors.
|
|
But he's done grave damage to it with a degree of partisanship and obstructionism that is genuinely rare.
|
|
That kind of justified obstructionism could put tremendous pressure on the Honduran government to respect human life and rights.
|
|
So Republican obstructionism has its limits, and Democrats may have figured out a way to take advantage of that.
|
|
The choice between governing and obstructionism will test Ryan's principles more than deciding whether or not to endorse Trump.
|
|
Might not his critique of the Republican Party echo a national frustration with rigid Republican conservatism (sometimes called obstructionism)?
|
|
In this political climate dominated by unprecedented obstructionism in Congress, the will of the American people is being subverted.
|
|
He represents everything that's wrong with Washington — blind partisanship, rank hypocrisy, blatant obstructionism and total subservience to special interests.
|
|
Nor do Democrats need to engage in the kind of scorched earth obstructionism that we have seen with the GOP.
|
|
The unprecedented obstructionism denies leadership to executive branch departments and agencies and impedes the fair and swift administration of justice.
|
|
Specialist in political obstruction And when it comes to radical political obstructionism, nobody has done it better than Senator Cruz.
|
|
"We have been dealing in the last seven years with an unprecedented level of obstructionism against President Obama," Sanders said.
|
|
"We have been dealing, in the last seven years, with an unprecedented level of obstructionism against President Obama," Sanders said.
|
|
GOP unity would force the Senate Democrats to provide 10 votes for a big fix or face backlash for obstructionism.
|
|
But they can also point to McConnell for forcing them to carry the albatross of Garland obstructionism around their necks.
|
|
Obstructionism is what defines him — and is, in fact, among the "achievements" in which he has professed the greatest pride.
|
|
For all his complaints about Democratic obstructionism, Mr. McConnell has pushed through a record number of Mr. Trump's judicial picks.
|
|
But Republicans will most likely portray the move as another example of obstructionism and gridlock typical of a Washington elite.
|
|
Because Republicans were the opposition party from 2009 to 2016, their refusal to compromise took on the quality of radical obstructionism.
|
|
" He lamented that obstructionism by other editors stopped him from contributing to the site's "great mission—one I feel so keenly.
|
|
The unassuming judge has become the great martyr of scuttled nominations, prodding Democrats to forge ahead with their own righteous obstructionism.
|
|
If progressives' mood today is any indication, the Democratic base will demand anger and fiery obstructionism, which is hardly Booker's style.
|
|
Meanwhile, moderate Republicans need to understand that Trump's obstructionism on an issue with overwhelming public support will reflect worst on them.
|
|
If Hillary Clinton wins, it will be four years of Republican obstructionism and unending congressional investigations into allegations of criminal behavior.
|
|
"The floods and tornadoes of the last few days remind us of the cruelty of this unnecessary Republican obstructionism," she added.
|
|
"All of these appeals have been rejected, and it is apparent that the county is engaging in total obstructionism," it said.
|
|
This kind of triangulation, obstructionism, and opacity are exactly what Clinton detractors point to when discussing her history on LGBTQ rights.
|
|
We need the kind of compassionate reform that Democrats have been advocating for decades in the face of persistent Republican obstructionism.
|
|
He explains that Republican opposition to President Obama's Affordable Care Act made no sense — unless you viewed it as simple obstructionism.
|
|
By choosing Judge Gorsuch, Mr. Trump has forced Democrats to reckon with the kind of obstructionism they long lamented from Republicans.
|
|
It was Grassley who cleared away the last vestiges of Democratic Party obstructionism against the Trump judicial nominees back in November.
|
|
The obstructionism that we read about in the Mueller report has come galloping off the pages and right onto our front doorstep.
|
|
Mr Modi blames the opposition's obstructionism in Parliament, but his own party behaved just the same way before it came to power.
|
|
But after three detonations of the "nuclear option" to reduce debate time, the Senate is no closer to ending "obstructionism" than before.
|
|
Nancy Pelosi laughed when we asked her if she was worried about political backlash due to Democratic obstructionism on Neil Gorsuch's nomination.
|
|
That's off the table now because of Russia's obstructionism, including a refusal to enforce even its own call for a cease-fire.
|
|
This has left the government unable to claim credit for this moment, instead having to apologize for the obstructionism that delayed it.
|
|
There are multiple answers, but the most important factor was politics — cynical, bad-faith obstructionism on the part of the Republican Party.
|
|
Reid blamed Trump's rise on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for a deliberate strategy of obstructionism as long as Obama was president.
|
|
The American people are highly attuned to the difference between the practice of blocking bad ideas and the political sport of obstructionism.
|
|
While this law encroached on executive privilege, it was intended to prevent Johnson's interference in congressional Reconstruction and his increasingly dangerous obstructionism.
|
|
Unlike John Boehner, when faced with the Freedom Caucus's obstructionism, Paul Ryan does not appear likely to turn to Democrats for compromise.
|
|
The crucial question for 2017 is whether the old spirit of obstructionism will return, or the newer atmosphere of compromise will continue.
|
|
In Biden's defense, the truth is that none of the Democrats, right now, have a persuasive theory for how to overcome Republican obstructionism.
|
|
And I get why Democrats feel unfairly robbed of a high court seat, given that GOP obstructionism kept the spot open for Gorsuch.
|
|
He and the obstructionism he endured disappointed some, others never embraced him; plainly the affection he commands was not transferable to Hillary Clinton.
|
|
If you want to understand why the Republicans are broadcasting their commitment to obstructionism, it's useful to take a look at Rubio's campaign.
|
|
What I'm saying is this: The notion that Biden was or is naive about the obstructionism of the modern Republican Party is silly.
|
|
Mr Modi, as chief minister of Gujarat state until 2014, helped thwart the previous government's GST plans and has faced retaliatory obstructionism since.
|
|
"If you want to know where that kind of obstructionism and recklessness leads, just look at the Republican race for the presidency," Mrs.
|
|
By nominating a plainly qualified judge, Mr. Trump has forced Democrats to reckon with the kind of obstructionism they long condemned from Republicans.
|
|
Accusing Democrats of obstructionism, he announced he would delay the Senate's scheduled August recess by two weeks so that senators could keep working.
|
|
And when pushed to explain why the much-promised two-state solution is perennially stuck, the response is always to blame Arab obstructionism.
|
|
What I'm reading: Jeff Shesol, at The New Yorker, has an excellent breakdown of the growing signs of the Republicans' Supreme Court obstructionism.
|
|
The Senate's responsibility to confirm the IRF ambassadorship should not be an occasion for continued obstructionism by politicians at odds with the president.
|
|
Issues like Daschle's political obstructionism and, more recently, Senator Amy Klobuchar's alleged abusive-boss mannerisms only matter if Washington insiders think they matter.
|
|
Republican obstructionism will likely tie his new gun actions up in court and delay implementation as was the case with his immigration executive orders.
|
|
Republicans who control the Senate are refusing to advance the nomination, prompting Democrats to accuse them of obstructionism and of ignoring their constitutional obligations.
|
|
MORE and now serves as president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, called Farr's nomination a reward for obstructionism.
|
|
The incentives—the money, the advocates, the lobbyists, the special interests—promote a kind of obstructionism that post-War leaders would never have tolerated.
|
|
Americans should be hearing precisely how the chosen candidate will take on GOP obstructionism in the Senate to get wide-reaching climate legislation passed.
|
|
What could've been a debate over the noxious liberalism of Obama's choice has now become a debate over the reflexive obstructionism of Senate Republicans.
|
|
But the very explosiveness of it would be a way for the House to signal the seriousness of White House obstructionism to the public.
|
|
Today, the Democrats who cried about Republican obstructionism are the same ones who are engaging in unprecedented obstruction and sabotage of President Trump's nominees.
|
|
"The truth of the matter is, in my lifetime certainly there's never been a president who's been up against so much obstructionism," Clooney said.
|
|
It just isn't happening, despite some wishful thinking on the part of Democrats like Chuck Schumer who believe voters will be incensed by Republican obstructionism.
|
|
In an interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo, Trump insisted that the slowness in staffing up the executive branch was due to Democratic obstructionism.
|
|
This level of obstructionism is unprecedented in American history and undermines the rule of law, the very foundation on which this great nation was built.
|
|
As a result of his efforts and the efforts of Joe Biden against unprecedented, I was there, unprecedented Republican obstructionism, we have made enormous progress.
|
|
A crisis for the Good Friday Agreement, already stretched by D.U.P. obstructionism, is leading Sinn Fein to put a united Ireland back on the agenda.
|
|
Given the obstructionism of congressional Republicans, and the inherent inertia of the legislative process, not using pen and phone would simply have meant fewer achievements.
|
|
Jason Chaffetz, a Republican congressman who built his career investigating the Obama administration, recently threw his hands up over obstructionism from the Trump White House.
|
|
The reasons for this are many, but political scientists mostly blame the rising polarization of the two parties, and particularly the tactical obstructionism pioneered by Republicans.
|
|
He railed on the majority party for obstructionism in the Senate, seeking to delegitimize President Barack Obama, denying climate change and opposing Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
|
|
For Republicans, obstructionism is about reverse engineering their claims that government itself is the problem and Obama is a bad leader who's impossible to work with.
|
|
Evidence of the success of McConnell's obstructionism is his victory in holding the GOP majority in the Senate when the odds favored the Democrats taking over.
|
|
But he found gridlock more entrenched than ever, the foundational obstructionism of congressional Republicans overlaid with the fossil fuel loyalties of coal- and oil-state Democrats.
|
|
" When it comes to Congress, other presidents have run into walls of resistance by the opposition — what both Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump have called "obstructionism.
|
|
Suffice it, then, to say that people seemed thrilled to be working there, and beleaguered by official obstructionism and shortages, and determined to fight institutional decapitation.
|
|
And it should serve as the final tear to any veil of Republican obstructionism: Domestic and sexual violence threatens people across the United States every day.
|
|
Furthermore, it would be the height of hypocrisy for Cornyn to make that argument that obstructionism is somehow justified in the case of the Vought nomination.
|
|
Mr. McConnell's blunt declaration was taken as the starkest exhibition yet of the obstructionism that has characterized the Kentucky senator's stance toward President Obama and congressional Democrats.
|
|
Today's congressional Republicans won't settle even for 99 percent: Their mentality has shifted away from having policies and governing and toward a kind of bitter-end obstructionism.
|
|
Since Barack Obama became president, they've waged an unrelenting war of "obstructionism, anti-intellectualism, and attacks on American institutions," as Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein put it.
|
|
"The decision to promulgate this duplicative rule at this stage is post-election midnight regulation and therefore obstructionism at its worst," said Hal Quinn, the group's president.
|
|
The obstructionism and partisanship—in particular from the Republican side—that marked the Obama era didn't do much to reinvigorate people's faith in the country's leaders, either.
|
|
We noted four years ago the dysfunction of the Republican Party, arguing that its obstructionism, anti-intellectualism, and attacks on American institutions were making responsible governance impossible.
|
|
Still, with or without pretense of some kind of unwritten rule, the current Senate has made obstructionism its job, so all of this is to be expected.
|
|
The current majority leader, Mitch McConnell, however, has devoted much of his career to perfecting the art of obstructionism, weaponizing Senate gridlock like no one before him.
|
|
The authoritarian AMLO may rail against their obstructionism, but he can do little in the short term to mitigate the obstacles they pose to his policy preferences.
|
|
People across New Hampshire are fed up with partisan dysfunction in Washington, and come November, voters are going to hold Kelly Ayotte accountable for her unprecedented obstructionism.
|
|
"We have to move with all deliberate speed so that the Republican propaganda machine and their obstructionism does not prevent the truth from getting out," said Rep.
|
|
Israel, in this telling, wants peace, but its quirky political system gives too much power to small ideological groups and so the country cannot overcome settlers' obstructionism.
|
|
Following the plan's release, Arab influencers, including the chairperson of the board of the popular Saudi-based newspaper Al-Arabiya, criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for his obstructionism.
|
|
As a result of his efforts and the efforts of Joe Biden against unprecedented, I was there in the Senate, unprecedented Republican obstructionism, we have made enormous progress.
|
|
"It&aposs incredibly rich that Republicans are now accusing the Democrats of obstructionism," said Daniel Goldberg, legal director at the Alliance For Justice, a liberal judicial advocacy group.
|
|
No atrocity -- whether it's the massacres at Sandy Hook and Aurora or the terrorist shooting at San Bernardino -- will jolt Congress into action or stop gun lobby obstructionism.
|
|
On top of those physical challenges, there is political obstructionism from the Kiir government, which enjoys the legal authority to deny U.N. investigations and interventions against its forces.
|
|
While it is absolutely necessary for Hillary Clinton to win the presidency, that is certainly not sufficient to end the Republican obstructionism that has plagued President Obama's tenure.
|
|
During the Obama years, Ryan made the deficit the centerpiece of Republican obstructionism, arguing that the president's alleged profligate spending was putting the country's economic future at risk.
|
|
So when people say Obama didn't go far enough, from my perspective I think he did what he could do considering the crazy amount of obstructionism he faced.
|
|
Democrat obstructionism reached new heights recently when they blocked the president's offer of amnesty for 1.8 million illegal immigrants that Democrats have championed for more than a decade.
|
|
The project encountered political obstructionism, a protracted struggle to secure adequate space and lack of institutional support until it turned to a combination of crowdfunding, international aid and voluntarism.
|
|
Now Republicans control the legislative branch, and many liberals have cheered Mr. Obama's executive actions as a way to get things done despite what they see as congressional obstructionism.
|
|
U.S. officials familiar with the case privately complained of subsequent obstructionism at the highest levels of power preventing attempts by U.S. law enforcement agencies to gain access to files.
|
|
Obama, Clinton and the Democrats will spend the next months blistering the GOP for "obstructionism" and being unfair for not at least allowing Garland a hearing and a vote.
|
|
And frankly, for well over a decade now, the Republican party's playbook has been built entirely around obstructionism (which is partially why they struggled to enact policy after 2016).
|
|
Speaking to reporters outside the Senate chamber on Wednesday, Senator Humberto Costa, leader of the Workers' Party caucus, said he was left with no choice but to embrace obstructionism.
|
|
It is seemingly almost forgotten that President Obama inherited an absolute economic disaster and was called upon, in the face of unrelenting Republican obstructionism, to right a sinking ship.
|
|
" And yet in June, the matter was still unresolved, with the European Union issuing a statement condemning Russia for obstructionism in "small measures, such as the use of binoculars.
|
|
But 71 percent of Iranians do not think the Europeans are moving as rapidly as they could to engage economically with Iran, mostly due to U.S. obstructionism and pressure.
|
|
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday admonished New York's wealthy Westchester County to stop its "total obstructionism" in implementing an agreement designed to boost affordable housing.
|
|
While Haley focused on themes of Russian obstructionism and American resolve to strike as needed, the British and French ambassadors emphasized an interest in pursuing talks to ease tensions.
|
|
If Mr. McConnell declined to take action, as is so often his way, Democrats could hammer home the contrast between their let's-get-stuff-done attitude and Republicans' obstructionism.
|
|
Democrats will theoretically have the power to set the agenda, but they will still be contending with a Republican Senate leader who takes pride in obstructionism for partisan gain.
|
|
Most of those key positions are vacant, not because of Senate obstructionism as President Trump falsely claims, but because the president has failed to nominate anyone to fill them.
|
|
Warren connected Trump's attacks on Curiel to Republican obstructionism against the judicial branch going back years, citing their unwillingness to confirm appointees like District of Maryland nominee Paula Xinis.
|
|
If the Republicans block a nominee like Judge Srinivasan, they risk charges of not just obstructionism but also hypocrisy, since they just helped put him on the Court of Appeals.
|
|
RON WOLK Warwick, R.I. To the Editor: Nicholas Kristof suggests that the left drop the sanctimony and the right drop the obstructionism in moving toward intelligent approaches to gun violence.
|
|
"We're being forced right now in the United States into hard choices in part because Republican obstructionism has kept us from moving faster and more aggressively on Zika," she said.
|
|
Chris Murphy of Connecticut responded on Twitter: "My no on Gorsuch isn't payback for Garland, but any Republican lecturing us on obstructionism this week gets the Gold Medal of Hypocrisy."
|
|
While there are a multitude of ways to measure Congressional obstructionism, the number of filibusters provides a clear picture of lawmakers blocking action from moving forward to a final vote.
|
|
Above all, the grand jury cast a harsh light on the "culture of secrecy" of the fraternity and noted that there were "elements of conspiracy and obstructionism" in the case.
|
|
Consider his judicial obstructionism North Korea grows nuclear program at expense of US security This is the first year that all nominees have publicly supported medical cannabis in some way.
|
|
In an unprecedented act of obstructionism, all 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee pledged in writing on Tuesday not to hold hearings for any candidate President Barack Obama nominates.
|
|
Tactical obstructionism by the minority and "partisan message votes" — called by the majority purely to show voters a distinction between the parties — became a large part of what lawmakers did.
|
|
But his camp and others in the international community have made it clear they see an opportunity to get around what they see as parliament's "obstructionism" and get things done.
|
|
In selecting a respected, deeply conservative jurist, Mr. Trump has dared Democrats to pursue the kind of blanket obstructionism that they long accused Republicans of embracing during the Obama administration.
|
|
And Mr. Trump's countermanding an understandable and routine staffing decision not only reneged on his deal with General McMaster, it also segued to an episode of clear White House obstructionism.
|
|
This is another issue that causes people to disagree about the scope of "Bernie Bro" obstructionism: A lot of Sanders supporters don't necessarily see it because they're not the targets.
|
|
" Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also slammed the conference, saying it "is so detached from reality that it has extended a hand towards Palestinian obstructionism instead of towards peace.
|
|
A strident stand, he says, would be well-deserved "payback for the obstructionism" on Mr Garland and would appease "the Democratic base", averting a possible "Tea-Party rebellion on the left".
|
|
Meanwhile, Republicans have accused Democrats of partisan obstructionism on a nominee with a long list of congressional and military accomplishments, saying there is "no reason" for any senator to oppose Pompeo.
|
|
Frustrated by Republican obstructionism when Democrats held control of the Senate, Merkley became a big backer of filibuster reform, calling to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to advance legislation and nominees.
|
|
The letter's signees condemn "obstructionism and pure partisanship" in current politics and note that there has been a "stalemate" in recent discussions with Pelosi but hope to work toward a consensus.
|
|
"What you are seeing today in this Supreme Court situation is nothing more than the continuous and unprecedented obstructionism that President Obama has gone though," he said to applause from the crowd.
|
|
There is another ingredient in this combustible mix: Democrats are still smarting over the unprecedented, unyielding obstructionism of Obama by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellAre Democrats turning Trump-like?
|
|
A majority of Americans blamed the GOP for obstructionism, and the party would have paid a steep price in the 2014 mid-terms, if not for the glitch-filled rollout of Obamacare.
|
|
Partisan obstructionism and misguided policies will accomplish nothing of substance, since Republicans still control the Senate and the White House, but it will drive more Americans to the side of President Trump.
|
|
The Senate has been historically slow in confirming his nominees, in part due to Democratic obstructionism but in part due to Republican objections and real concerns about the competence of Trump's appointees.
|
|
"This has had a cathartic effect on the Democrats because we have finally been able to find a way to fight back at the obstructionism," said Mr. Raskin, a Judiciary Committee member.
|
|
Obstructionism is a dirty business, but for those who have engaged in it for eight years to now step up and call it out is the last way to accomplish anything bipartisan.
|
|
Veteran senators develop remarkable dexterity, capable of seamlessly flipping their stance on filibusters and obstructionism depending on whether they are in the majority or the minority or who is in the White House.
|
|
Bernie Sanders Reality check: Sanders on obstructionism against Obama By Kevin Liptak, CNN Sanders claimed that President Barack Obama has faced previously-unseen levels of resistance from Congress during his time in office.
|
|
There is an opportunity for Weld and any other primary challengers to propose alternative visions of the future Republican Party, which cannot afford to become known for obstructionism, nativism, racism, theocracy, and disparity.
|
|
Barack Obama has been a good president, but he might have been a greater one if he hadn't had to spend significant time on learning the job and how to deal with obstructionism.
|
|
In retrospect, the 2016 election has rendered every venal, norm-breaking move by Republicans under Obama — from obstructionism during the economic recovery to government shutdowns to refusing to confirm Merrick Garland — politically astute.
|
|
Garland himself, an appeals-court judge, immediately started making calls to Capitol Hill, signaling the start of a battle for public perceptions as Obama seeks to highlight what Democrats characterize as unprecedented obstructionism.
|
|
Now Mr O'Rourke, an entrepreneur by background who is exploring a run in 2018 against Senator Ted Cruz, a doctrinaire Republican, worries that some colleagues are putting their faith in Tea Party-style obstructionism.
|
|
In response to Mr Obama's sweeping victory then, Republicans regrouped and adopted a strategy of rampant obstructionism, consistently using the Senate filibuster to block proposals and raging about Democratic overreach when something got done.
|
|
Division and obstructionism, the obliteration of political norms, the politicization of previously apolitical parts of our government and civic life, the contempt for government, the rise of ethno-nationalism—all were prevalent before Trump.
|
|
Clinton continued to press Democrats in Nevada to make the Supreme Court a political issue on Monday, telling supporters in Elko that Democrats need to make obstructionism in Congress a galvanizing issue in November.
|
|
If politicians once again engage in this kind of cynical obstructionism it would be a mistake, says Professor Akhil Reed Amar, who taught Judge Kavanaugh while he was a student at Yale Law School.
|
|
Throughout his trip, Vice President Pence proved adept at navigating the complexities of Middle Eastern politics, while also providing a reassuring contrast to the ongoing obstructionism in Congress over keeping the U.S. government operating.
|
|
In 2013, Senate Democrats eliminated the filibuster for federal appointments — except Supreme Court justices — in an effort to stop what they saw as obstructionism by the Republican minority, who repeatedly blocked President Obama's nominations.
|
|
What's more, the idea of Obama being forced to name a Republican touches the emotional core of the Democratic base — the idea that Republican obstructionism is an effort to delegitimize Obama and his presidency.
|
|
THOMAS S. DERETICH Boston To the Editor: The Republican Senate's action in refusing to entertain the nomination of Merrick Garland capped an overwhelmingly successful campaign of obstructionism directed at President Obama and the Democrats.
|
|
OBSTRUCTIONISM, HOW THE PARTIES FIGHT IS PART OF WHAT I THINK IS SERIOUSLY HARMING THE U.S. AND SERIOUSLY HARMING ALL OF OUR FUTURES, AND SO CONSIDER CANDIDATES- YOU MAY REJECT THEM, BUT DO YOUR JOB.
|
|
If the left can drop the sanctimony, and the right can drop the obstructionism, if instead of wrestling with each other we can grapple with the evidence, we can save thousands of lives a year.
|
|
" On the Supreme Court nomination fight and the "birther" movement: "What you are seeing today in this Supreme Court situation is nothing more than the continuous and unprecedented obstructionism that President Obama has gone through.
|
|
For many Democrats, the insistence on quick action and the charge of obstructionism rang hollow given that Republicans refused to even meet with President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick B. Garland, in 2016.
|
|
"This has had a cathartic effect on the Democrats because we have finally been able to find a way to fight back at the obstructionism," Representative Jamie Raskin told my Times colleague Sheryl Gay Stolberg.
|
|
" Raskin added: "I would be inclined to look at the whole pattern of obstructionism by the White House, and then figure out how it best coheres with the articles of impeachment that are being suggested.
|
|
So aggressive is congressional obstructionism where BRAC is concerned that the omnibus spending bill passed at the end of 2015 included language specifically prohibiting the DOD from devoting any resources toward a new BRAC round.
|
|
For her to accomplish much, the Democrats have to win a majority in the Senate and at least enough gains in the House to alarm Republicans that a policy of obstructionism will further alienate the public.
|
|
While Democrats may think they are dodging Republican obstructionism by avoiding a formal inquiry debate and vote, they may at the same time be arousing public disgust and distrust over the perceived unfairness of it all.
|
|
Both sides have pointed repeatedly to examples of escalating obstructionism in recent years, from Democratic attempts to block judicial nominees under President George W. Bush to a wide-scale proliferation of Republican filibusters under Mr. Obama.
|
|
And it will set a new low for obstructionism and dysfunction that will make it even harder going forward to confirm any Supreme Court nominee when one party controls the presidency and the other controls the Senate.
|
|
In reality, no one wants to shut down the government, other than perhaps Harry Reid who wants to use it as an election issue to blame Republicans for his party's obstructionism and to help vulnerable Senate Democrats.
|
|
Mr. Daschle said the unfinished nature of Mr. Obama's health care program was partly the fault of Republican obstructionism and partly the result of delays that always occur when trying to overhaul such a large social program.
|
|
Despite his New York roots, Mr. Trump zeroed in on Gateway and urged Republican leaders not to provide federal funds for it — an apparent rebuke to Mr. Schumer, whose caucus the president has repeatedly accused of obstructionism.
|
|
Garrow takes Obama to task for his lack of "bipartisan outreach" with Republican members of Congress, but doesn't tell the other side of the story — namely, the Republicans' deliberate strategy of obstructionism throughout Obama's tenure in office.
|
|
We&aposre up against some opposition, some obstructionism in Congress but we have to fight through it and we just need to shame these Democrats if they&aposre not willing to do the right thing on their own.
|
|
"That didn't seem to be a problem for (Sens.) Pat Toomey or Rob Portman -- and my recollection is they engaged in a whole lot of obstructionism," McCaskill said of two Republicans re-elected in battleground states this November.
|
|
She has pieced together the whole, gripping story, from the conditions that gave rise to the rebellion, which cost the lives of 133 men, to the decades of government obstructionism that prevented the full story from being told.
|
|
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton rebuked Senate Republicans on Monday for denying a hearing to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, accusing them of obstructionism, and warned of dangers if Donald Trump appointed the next justice.
|
|
It incorporates a half-century-old unsolved murder case, shocking details of sexual abuse and devastating indictments of the indifference and obstructionism of the Roman Catholic Church as well as of the Baltimore and Maryland criminal justice systems.
|
|
And if, for whatever reasons, our party falls short of controlling both chambers of Congress, the next Democratic president will have to reach across the aisle to end the Republican obstructionism that has gripped Washington for so long.
|
|
Read more " _____ • The editorial board of The Columbus Dispatch: "Americans are fretful about the future of health-care costs and coverage, and a sustainable solution won't be found amid the obstructionism of which both political parties are guilty.
|
|
With both of those considerations in mind — combined with his general disdain for the politics of obstructionism and scandal — Flake has clearly decided that some sort of campaign of all-out opposition to Trump's agenda makes little sense.
|
|
There is, however, good reason to believe that this nomination is another example of Obama putting the GOP leaders in a difficult position because of their obstructionism, as we have observed before (for example, here, here, and here).
|
|
"After helping their party lead this unprecedented obstructionism, voters can expect GOP Senators and candidates to sign up for even more gridlock should they get back to Washington," said Sam Lau, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
|
|
Finally, her political life happens to coincide with a period of ever-increasing political polarization and obstructionism, especially by Republicans in Congress, which has made effective action by the federal government far more difficult, if not almost impossible. Mrs.
|
|
And it suggests that, when faced with obstructionism from Democrats, Republicans won't be shy about using their majority to change Senate procedure to advance their party's agenda — a decision that could foreshadow the fight over Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
|
|
Republicans say all of this only underscores the president's contention that Democrats have become the party of obstructionism, blocking progress on overhauling the tax code, on building a wall on the southern border and on reviving the nation's infrastructure.
|
|
Certainly, many business elites may still find considerable value in supporting Republican obstructionism because it can stop unwelcome regulations, and they may reasonably fear the kinds of sweeping changes that a Democratic majority in the House and Senate might undertake.
|
|
The key could well be Republican senators who are up for re-election -- such as Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Paul Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio -- who could be hurt by perceived obstructionism against an impeccably qualified individual.
|
|
By and large, over the last seven years on major issue after major issue, I have stood by his side to where he has taken on unprecedented Republican obstructionism, has tried to do the right thing for the American people.
|
|
Though Arrington nominally ran against Sanford by calling him a "Washington insider" who is responsible for "obstructionism" — coupled with a sprinkling of references to his "Appalachian Trail" scandal — is was Stanford's criticism of President Trump that ultimately did him in.
|
|
But many of Mr. Abdullah's strongest supporters threatened the formation of a parallel government if their grievances — which Mr. Ghani's team sees as obstructionism so that the opposition can get a share of the power — were not taken into account.
|
|
Should the Republican Senate majority filibuster, with the Republican presidential candidates egging them on (many have already taken this position), progressive movements for women's rights, racial justice, and immigrants' rights would be ready to stand up and denounce their obstructionism.
|
|
Most of the commentary on the 2016 election has taken as its premise the idea that the root-and-branch GOP obstructionism that characterized Obama's first six years in office will be present at the beginning of a Clinton administration.
|
|
They must understand that we're fed up with business as usual in Washington, DC. They must understand that we want leaders who look for opportunities to collaborate and work together productively, instead of pursuing obstructionism that serves political parties rather than citizens.
|
|
Amid a backlash at this obstructionism, Republican leaders began to hint that they may allow hearings on an Obama nominee; Charles Grassley, chair of the judiciary committee, says he would "wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions".
|
|
This was a huge violation of governing norms, the most glaring evidence yet of total gridlock in Washington, but the GOP's bet paid off in spades: Garland was all but forgotten in the election, and voters declined to punish Republicans for their obstructionism.
|
|
This obstructionism is so endemic that the Democrats even filibustered the nomination of Sigal Mandelker to be the under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at Treasury — but then almost all Democrats joined together in confirming her by an overwhelming 28500-6900 vote.
|
|
In addition to demonstrating obstructionism unprecedented in American history — never, in the 100 years since the Judiciary Committee began holding hearings, has a Senate majority simply denied a nominee hearings and a vote — these tactics threaten to undermine the rule of law itself.
|
|
But if Obama started out believing he would be accepted as the enlightened statesman, transcending the racial and political divide in order to dispense sensible solutions to a fractured republic, the relentless obstructionism of Republican lawmakers presumably disabused him of those illusions.
|
|
Conflict and obstructionism have always been their purpose, fueled by their relentless message that government is always the problem, that all experts are idiots, that cultural and coastal elites hate Real Americans and that all of Washington is corrupt and broken beyond repair.
|
|
And what ends up happening is the people who win from this economic revolution try to preserve their gains through just about any means they can, and that includes gross political obstructionism, the rigging of elections, and a total unwillingness to compromise.
|
|
It will be an incredible irony if Trump, the deal-breaker who could shake up the system, was actually a reaction to Mitch McConnell and the obstructionism in the House and Senate and the inability of the two parties to work together.
|
|
The former president might have been trying to refer to Republican obstructionism, but it came across as an unfortunate slag against the sitting president, all the more damaging since Hillary Clinton is basing her campaign on a promise to preserve and extend Obama's legacy.
|
|
"An attempted filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee is rare, and to do so in this context, with such an eminently qualified and brilliant judge, is nothing short of obstructionism," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, noting Leahy's comments against taking part in a filibuster.
|
|
The optimism of Obama's 2008 election had been buried under years of Republican obstructionism, and the 2012 election pitted a sitting president with approval ratings under 50 percent against Mitt Romney, who was basically a bundle of conservative talking points stuffed into a tailored suit.
|
|
He can placate the conservatives by continuing the obstructionism of the past six years, or he can turn to governing by dealing with a President Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonLewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Fighter pilot vs.
|
|
But within that lie, there was some truth, a kernel of ugliness in the irrational hatred against Barack Obama and the unyielding obstructionism of the Republican Party that has become a full-blown cancer in the form of angry, ardent support for Donald Trump.
|
|
But a combination of Democratic obstructionism, strife within the GOP on how to move on their core priorities, a slate of predetermined and energy-sapping issues, and a lack of leadership from the Trump administration is currently making life tough for Republicans on Capitol Hill.
|
|
I suspect the senior senator from New York and his Senate colleagues would make a better page in the history books by avoiding obstructionism and instead confirming a justice of intellectual stature, of high ethical standards who is guided by a sense of fairness for all.
|
|
There's an overarching disconnect, in other words, between philosophical desires and what legislators can actually achieve — either because of the limits of the office (they cannot, for instance, change federal case law, or modify the federal Constitution) or because of the limits to what obstructionism can yield.
|
|
"We're going to continue to cast a spotlight on the Republican obstructionism on the Supreme Court and highlight how the issues before the court or potentially before the court have a major impact on the lives of the American people," said Luis Miranda, the DNC's communications director.
|
|
Later that month, Schumer and four other top Democrats sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threatening the ultimate form of obstructionism: a government shutdown if Trump includes funding for a border wall in the supplemental budget needed to keep federal operations running past April.
|
|
"It certainly has its detractors, and there's no question that at least one of the reasons why it hasn't been as effective as some had hoped is the intransigence and obstructionism of the United States," said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas.
|
|
Ironically, the outcome of such obstructionism is inevitably bad for Republicans: Either the Speaker has to pass something with the support of the Democrats, or the initiative goes to the Senate, both of which will produce a bill that is even less acceptable to the diehards.
|
|
If Democrats retake the White House and Senate, the pressure to deal with Republican obstructionism will intensify as progressives push bold plans — "Medicare for all," the Green New Deal, gun-safety measures, and so on — impossible to realize under the current system without a Senate supermajority.
|
|
"The Trump administration has made clear its intention to benefit from Republican obstructionism and to pack the federal courts with ultraconservatives given a stamp of approval by the Federalist Society," said Nan Aron, the president of the Alliance for Justice, referring to the conservative legal group.
|
|
I supported Hillary Clinton but was frustrated that so little time, especially in the debates, was spent hammering home the message that much of what Donald Trump claims is wrong with America is a result of the purposeful obstructionism and stagnation of his own Republican Congress.
|
|
While it is unfair to blame any particular individual, the Obama administration was inexplicably gun-shy on sanctions in South Sudan, all too willing to give a pass to Saudi Arabia or Israel for serious violations, and less than creative in overcoming Russia's obstructionism on Syria.
|
|
FRED ANDREWS Southold, N.Y. To the Editor: In your editorial, you point out, rightly, that Senate Republicans took the Supreme Court hostage for a year, and that the seat that Judge Neil Gorsuch has been nominated for has been empty for a year because of Republican obstructionism.
|
|
It was he who in 1860, exasperated by what he considered obstructionism on the part of Chinese imperial officials, led a British military expedition into Beijing that destroyed and looted the emperor's fairyland-style Summer Palace and presented Queen Victoria with a Pekingese picked up from the ruins.
|
|
I wouldn't be stunned to see the Republicans try to knock down a nomination the president makes, but the idea of saying that there is no human being in the nation that the two political parties could agree upon puts obstructionism at a whole new world-class level.
|
|
" She can't stand the party's "overzealous" approach to women's health issues, she said, or to legislative obstructionism — the kind where in a Republican-dominated chamber, "if it was a Democratic idea, even if it was a good idea, it didn't go anywhere, which was very stupid and shortsighted.
|
|
Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House intelligence committee, said at the weekend that "what may be pushing us in the direction of impeachment…has less to do with Justin Amash and more to do with the fact that the administration is engaging in a maximum obstructionism campaign against Congress".
|
|
Jerry Nadler stated after the testimony that it was all part of the plan: get Hicks to testify behind closed doors, let her attorneys essentially shut down the testimony with frivolous objections, and then use the transcript to illustrate for a judge the absurdity of the White House's legal obstructionism.
|
|
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie SandersBernie SandersJoe Biden faces an uncertain path Bernie Sanders vows to go to 'war with white nationalism and racism' as president Biden: 'There's an awful lot of really good Republicans out there' MORE says President Obama has faced an "unprecedented level of obstructionism," during his time in office.
|
|
So the strategy for Democratic participation in legislation until 2020 should be to say no, not as a matter of course — not as a function of obstructionism and partisanship — but because specific things that the Republicans want to do are inimical to the well being of a majority of the American people.
|
|
Republicans are unrelentingly hostile to Obama, as they have been from the beginning, while a significant faction of Democrats are lining up behind Bernie Sanders to clamor for more and further-reaching change than Obama's been able to deliver — and blaming a corrupt political process rather than Republican obstructionism for his shortcomings.
|
|
Many factors are credited with explaining this American exception, including the victory of the north in the civil war, the availability of land, industrialisation, the power of economic elites and the capacity of certain presidents to temporarily overcome crisis and obstructionism and set a new course, as with the New Deal in the 1930s.
|
|
Jamie RaskinJamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinLawmakers to watch during Wednesday's impeachment hearing Pelosi faces tough choices on impeachment managers Five questions looming over impeachment MORE (D-Md.), who taught constitutional law before being elected to Congress, told CNN that he would like to "look at the whole pattern of obstructionism by the White House," while Rep.
|
|
Bob GoodlatteRobert (Bob) William GoodlatteImmigrant advocacy groups shouldn't be opposing Trump's raids Top Republican releases full transcript of Bruce Ohr interview It's time for Congress to pass an anti-cruelty statute MORE (R-Va.), Chair of the House Judiciary, should end their obstructionism and allow these bills to be both heard and voted upon in their respective committees.
|
|
"The fact is an attempted filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee is rare, and to do so in this context with such an eminently qualified and brilliant judge, is nothing short of obstructionism," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday, insisting that Democrats' moves toward a filibuster aren't in line with previous Senate consideration of Supreme Court nominees.
|
|
"It certainly shows a pattern of obstructionism in the administration, stonewalling any request by Congress, the unwillingness to recognize any oversight role of the political branch of government," House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told VICE News at the Capitol earlier this month after the White House blew through a deadline to produce Trump's tax returns.
|
|
The subsequent investigation was led by a brilliant Lebanese airline pilot named Mohammed Aziz, who after nearly two years of obstructionism and obfuscations by the Ethiopians produced a report laying the blame squarely on the pilots, who had overshot assigned compass headings left and right, overbanked repeatedly, stalled twice and, for lack of airmanship, entered a lethal high-G spiral dive.
|
|
"If you're in tough seats like a lot of these new members are, if we just go all left — just impeachment and obstructionism — then I believe we lose in 2020," said Representative Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey, who is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling itself the Problem Solvers Caucus that has proposed overhauling House rules to give rank-and-file lawmakers more input and influence.
|
|
It has everything but a happy ending: a bucolic setting concealing fortune and danger; poor but proud locals who've endured sequential boom-bust cycles of resource extraction (Prosperity is a neighboring town ravaged by long-wall mining); tough, reluctant victim-heroes; grisly scenes of animal die-off; and courtroom drama, as a tenacious husband-wife legal team takes on the industry and the state, wins one important case but can't outlast its adversaries' moneyed obstructionism.
|
|
But Trump faces a number of obstacles — the Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) Swan MuellerTrump calls for probe of Obama book deal Democrats express private disappointment with Mueller testimony Kellyanne Conway: 'I'd like to know' if Mueller read his own report MORE investigation, Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury," Steve BannonStephen (Steve) Kevin BannonThe specter of Steve Bannon may loom over 2020 Trump campaign Sunday shows - Trump's Epstein conspiracy theory retweet grabs spotlight Steve Bannon: 'President Trump is not a racist' MORE's public departure, and unprecedented obstructionism from the Democrats, to name a few.
|
|
Back in 2003, when Republicans controlled the Senate and George W. Bush was in the White House, she and her Michigan colleague Carl LevinCarl Milton LevinListen, learn and lead: Congressional newcomers should leave the extremist tactics at home House Democrats poised to set a dangerous precedent with president's tax returns The Hill's 85033:30 Report — Sponsored by Delta Air Lines — White House to 'temporarily reinstate' Acosta's press pass after judge issues order | Graham to take over Judiciary panel | Hand recount for Florida Senate race MORE honed the practice of blue slip obstructionism by submitting blue slips in opposition to five of President Bush's well-qualified judicial nominees from the state of Michigan.
|
|